


The Funeral of Leela

by LadyZoZo



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Gallifrey (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Angst, Death, F/F, Funeral, Gallifrey, Grief, Implied Romana/Leela, Regeneration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:55:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24895027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyZoZo/pseuds/LadyZoZo
Summary: Romana has faced many hardships in her long life, but never has she had to face the death of a close friend
Relationships: Leela/Romana II
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	The Funeral of Leela

**Author's Note:**

> enjoy this utterly devastating thing i made myself write

Romana can barely keep the tears from her eyes. She had always known this day would come, she just hadn’t expected it to be so soon.

Her hands rested on the side of the coffin. Leela looked so peaceful inside it, with her eyes shut and her hands crossed over her lap. It was almost unnatural. Leela had never looked so… still.

“Oh Leela.” Romana shuts her eyes and lets a tear roll down her cheek. “I am sorry. I should have been there with you, I should have stopped this from happening. I’ve let you down.”

Romana opens her eyes and takes one last look at Leela. She bends over and plants a tiny kiss on her forehead. “Goodbye Leela.” She turns her back on her closest friend and sits back down on the bench with the others. Brax stands up as she sits and walks over to Leela, saying his own farewells.

“Do you not have anything to say to her?” Romana asks Narvin.

He shakes his head. “I- I don’t think I would know what to say. Besides. I couldn’t face her. Not after…”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Romana reminds him.

“It was.” Narvin grimly says, not expanding on that. Romana isn’t sure what else to say.

Brax comes and sits back down. He looked solemn, but not as distraught as maybe Romana was. Narvin’s emotions were hard to track but she was sure he was just as devastated as her.

Nobody else goes up to see Leela. It doesn’t surprise Romana but she can’t help but feel hurt by it. Gallifrey wouldn’t even be here now if it wasn’t for Leela. She’d done so much for the Time Lords and this was how they repaid her. By not caring. Romana was fairly certain that most, if not all, of the visitors here were only here out of duty rather than respect. Just here because it was the President’s Bodyguard that had died. Not because they actually cared.

Romana feels more tears roll down her cheeks. Leela deserved more than this. She deserved to have the entire universe saying goodbye to her. She deserved to have more than these pompous, unempathetic Time Lords at her funeral. More than anything though she deserved to be alive.

The rest of the funeral passes fairly standardly. The funeral master comes out and says some empty words about Leela. Romana gets up and makes a short speech about how much Leela had done for Gallifrey. She wanted to go on forever, make it as long as possible, but her hearts felt too heavy for that. So she cut it short and sat back down beside Narvin.

The funeral master continues the ceremony as they would with any other Time Lord. Leela had never specified what she wanted done with her body after death, in fact Romana reckoned that she probably didn’t care, so Romana didn’t really have any other choice but to organise a traditional Time Lord funeral for her. An outdoor event, beside the Untempered Schism.

Finally the funeral master stops talking and he presses a button on the side of the casket. The lid of the coffin shuts over Leela’s body and it raises upwards about two feet in the air.

Out of the corner of her eye Romana spots Narvin looking down, unable to watch anymore. Romana keeps her eyes on the casket though, feeling a duty to watch as this happened.

The casket floats towards the Untempered Schism. The raw gateway to the time vortex lets it through and the casket hovers away from Gallifrey and enters the swirling vortex of time. Romana watches it travel down the vortex until it finally fades from her view. Tears roll down Romana’s face as it vanishes, to the point where she can barely see through the wetness in her eyes.

“Farewell, old friend. I love you.” She whispers it so quietly that not even Narvin hears.

~🌺~

Romana heads straight back up to her quarters after the funeral ends. Narvin follows her up but the others all go back to their own business, each coping with the event in different ways. Romana was glad that someone had come with her though, even if it was just Narvin. She couldn’t bear to be alone right now.

“Drink?” Romana asks flatly once they reach her quarters.

“What is it?” Narvin asks as he sits down on Romana’s sofa.

Romana grabs the bottle off the shelf and takes a whiff of it. She shrugs and says, “Strong?”

“Yes please.” Narvin nods.

Romana pours two full glasses of the stuff, plonks them down on the table and sits down beside Narvin. Narvin takes a sip of his immediately.

“How are you?” He asks Romana. “I know, a silly question, but… I felt like I should ask.”

“I am doing horribly.” Romana tells him honestly. “Thank you for asking.” She meant it genuinely but it came out cold and sarcastic. “How are you?”

“Dreadful.” Narvin doesn’t sugarcoat it either. “I… I always knew we would lose her. That’s just something we were always going to have to deal with. I just didn’t expect it so soon.”

“Me neither.” Romana quietly agrees. She takes a sip of the drink. It was incredibly strong and burnt on her tongue. It was just what she needed right now. “I’ve not lost anyone before.” Romana admits to Narvin. “Not someone I was this close to, not like this. How do you cope?”

Narvin sighs sadly. “I have no idea. I suppose you just… carry on.”

“I can’t carry on.” Romana rests her head against her hand, tears stinging in her eyes again.

“We have no choice.”

“I suppose not…” Romana breathes. “I just don’t know if I want to go on without her. She… she was what made living on Gallifrey bearable.”

Narvin nods. He didn’t really understand of course as he had never really been free of the Gallifreyan lifestyle, it was all he knew. But Romana had been free, once, and living here after that was hell. Leela was what grounded her, what reminded her of the good days and what kept her going in this stale society of politics and lies. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue without her.

“How’s Ace doing?” Romana asks Narvin. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to her today. I know she and Leela were… close.”

“Like sisters.” Narvin confirms. “Ace didn’t really say much to me either. I think she’s just trying to cope. Understandable though. She’s young, doesn’t know how to process all these emotions yet.”

“Does anyone?” Romana asks.

“I suppose not.”

Romana sighs and takes a large sip of her drink. She’d seen so much in this life. She’d met Daleks and vampires and power obsessed ghosts and had defeated them all without exhausting herself too much. This though? The death of someone she loved? This had drained her like nothing else. She felt so completely and utterly empty and she had no idea what to do about it. There wasn’t a handy device she could use to fix this, or a scheme she could foil, or a presidential code she could input, she just had to live through it.

Romana didn’t want to live through it though. After hundreds of years of endless trauma, constant danger and complex mind games, this was the final straw. The thing that had finally broken her beyond repair. Romana truly felt unable to continue.

“Then perhaps it’s time.” Romana whispers to herself.

Narvin frowns at her. “Time? Time for what?”

“I was a noble Romana, wasn’t I?”

“What?” Narvin asks. “Romana what does that even mean.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Romana shakes her head.

“I think it does.” Narvin says precariously. “What are you- Romana no!”

Romana follows his line of sight and looks down at her hands. The familiar golden energy was coursing through the veins in her hands. Each one shone softly, it was almost beautiful. “As I said. It’s time.”

“Romana no, please.” Narvin practically begged. “Don’t make me lose another friend.”

“I’m sorry Narvin.” Romana stands up and steps away from the sofa, purely for Narvin’s benefit. “I can’t carry on without her. I have to change.”

“Please don’t. Not all of us have that option.” Narvin’s eyes were filled with hurt and pain and loss. Romana knew what she was doing would hurt him but not doing it would hurt her even more. She couldn’t force herself to carry on living in this life, she just couldn’t.

“I know.” Romana nods. “But you won’t have to face your grief alone, I can promise you that. I’ll be there with you.”

“It won’t be you though.” Narvin reminds her. “It’ll be another you.”

“Which is exactly what I need to be right now.” Romana holds back tears as she sees the golden energy start to spread into her skin. “Goodbye Narvin, and thank you.” Romana holds up her hands in front of her, marvelling at the golden light emanating off her hands. She lets a tear roll down her cheek and takes a deep breath, preparing herself for the change. “It’s time for this old president to start again.”

Romana looks upwards and stretches out her arms. She stops holding back and lets the regeneration overcome her.

Golden light streams past her face and gets in her eyes, stopping her from seeing anything but the light. She can already feel the cells inside her rearranging themselves. Each bone reshapes itself and either grows or shrinks to suit her new body, her skin crawls as it burns into a new shape and her insides scream with the pain of change. It hurts like hell but it’s nothing compared to the emptiness she felt from losing Leela.

Romana doesn’t scream though. Not out loud anyway. She was content with the change. It was what she wanted, she didn’t need to scream.

The pain inside her subsides and the golden light fades from Romana’s eyes. She gasps as she takes her first breath, already finding her mouth unfamiliar. She furrows her brow and reaches up to rub her head as an aching pain pounds on her brain.

“My lady?” Narvin’s voice enters Romana’s ears. “Are you alright?”

Romana nods and looks over at Narvin, who was now on his feet and carefully stepping towards her. “Hello Narvin.” She lowers her hand and looks around the room, surprised at the amount of height she’d gained in the last few seconds.

“Are you alright?” Narvin asks her again. “Did it go well?”

“You tell me.” Romana remarks, her new voice taking her by surprise.

“Well, you look fine.” Narvin tells her.

“Well that’s good to know.” Romana holds up her arms and examines them. She steps forwards towards Narvin and smiles widely at him. “Thank you Narvin.”

“For… what?”

“Being with me while it happened.” Romana isn’t sure why but she leans forwards and wraps her arms around Narvin, embracing him. “It means a lot to me.”

“Oh, w- well, you’re welcome, I- I suppose.” Narvin stammers awkwardly, clearly he didn’t expect the hug.

Romana lets him go and sits back down on the sofa. She looks down at her lap and thinks of Leela. The grief was still there but somehow it felt easier to deal with now. It no longer consumed her entire being, it was now just a part of her. Just one of the things that made her Romana. 

And in that moment she promises to herself that she would be a good Romana, and that she would try to be the best version of herself she could possibly be. For Leela’s sake.


End file.
